Find Me Online

Thursday, April 15, 2010

More To Consider

Okay, I've gotten a lot of great emails from you guys re: blogging. Thank you! I love reading and responding to them. And you guys are like, writing my posts for me, so there's that too. *smiles*

So I thought I'd share a little bit more. Just things that personally annoy me (like the neonity of blogs) or that I think make blogging harder. And we all know that we don't want our blog to be hard to like or hard to read or hard to comment on.

So consider:

1. Music. Please, don't. I often (very often) have music on already, and I don't want to listen to yours. Rude? Probably. (Sorry!) It's okay to have a player, but set it so it doesn't start automatically. Then, if I'm interested in your music, I can have the freedom of choice to play it myself.

2. Comment verification. I know this can be a tricksy little bugger. If you feel like you MUST use it (I recently took mine off, and have less than 5 anonymous spam comments), please use the pop-up window that already has the word in it.

If you're opposed to pop-up windows for some reason, use the full-page form with the word already in it. Waiting for my verification word to load is annoying. Like, seriously annoying.

Here's how you do that:
1. From your dashboard, go to SETTINGS and then COMMENTS of the blog you want to alter (Hey, I have four).
2. In the COMMENT FORM PLACEMENT choose either "Full page" or "Pop-Up Window."
3. Scroll down.
4. In the COMMENT MODERATION area, choose "Older than [fill in blank] days." Then you can approve all comments on posts that are over a certain number of days old. Mine's set at 14 right now, just because that's the blogger default, I think. That way, if someone is commenting on posts older than 2 weeks, I must approve them.
5. Right below that, in SHOW WORD VERIFICATION FOR COMMENTS? choose "No." Of if you must, say yes, and if you've chosen full page or pop-up window, at least then I don't have to wait for your verification word to load before I can sub my comment.

Easy peasy. And this will make your blog an easier, happier place to leave comments. At least for me.

3. Follower widget. For the love, put it at the top of your blog. I don't want to scroll through a millionty awards to follow you.

What else? I feel like I've dispelled all my bloggy opinions/knowledge, so I think this might conclude this whole blogging series. Me = *panic face* What am I going to blog about now?? Guess I better put on my "What If?" hat.

Oh Elana you are right on the money with this one!! The music often startles me to the point of exiting out of the blog and not going back plus half the time we don't have the same taste so it really doesn't fit!!

Comment verification I have recently changed to make it easier for others as well!!

YES! If you want to be followed you must make it accessible I only search for so long!

Especially the word verification option. I average commenting on 40 to 50 blogs a day, and I could increase that by at least a third if I didn't lose so much time waiting for and typing nonsense words.

My preferences are set so that I must approve all comments left on posts more than two days old. I catch and delete 95% of spam comments that way. And my readers can leave me a quick word and be off to enjoy the next blog.

Dunno if you want to include this, but I've had several of my followers email me saying that placing the followers widget towards the very top actually froze their computer, so I would recommend placing it slightly further down the page, maybe just past the initial screenshot that loads?

I with you on the music. I can't read when it's on. I don't have an issue when someone has it on their blog because my computer is on mute most of the time. But it does freak me out when I haven't muted it and loud music suddenly starts playing.

I had the work verification turned off and ended up with 2 spam messages within 24 hrs. Maybe I'll turn it off again and give it a week trial.

And definitely use the Followers Widget. As soon as I added mine (seriously, what took me so long), I ended up with 40 new followers in four days. And the number is still growing. :D

I agree with the music thing. It startles me sometimes! Due to my love of music and two of my manuscripts having to do with music, I do have music on my blog weekly, but my blogger buds can choose whether or not to play it.I changed my verification due to your advice earlier. (I think you had that tip in an earlier post.)

I don't like auto-play music on blogs because I usually do my blog hopping after everyone else has gone to bed. No matter how much I like NIN or Bach, I'd prefer not to wake up the household.

Plus, I'm a multi-tasker and often have more than a dozen blogs open. Sometimes I can't find which blog the music is coming from because of a delayed start, and I have to close them all. That drives me absolutely nuts!

Haa ha on point #1 I TOTALLY agree. Just blogged about that the other day :Ppoint #2 y'know, I don't even know if I have one on mine... I shouldn't, since I mod comments anyway :-/ I'd better check that LOLpoint #3 YES amen! I just blogged about that too. Srsly, you've got to think about WHAT you put WHERE. If I have to go searching for the following widget, it won't be long afore I give up ;)Great post. Everyone needs to follow this advice :D lol

Thanks for the practical advice. It'll help me when I set up my blog. Maybe you can do a post on getting started blogging & how to get others to follow/know about your blog at the beginning. How do you announce it besides Facebook or Twitter, if you're on it. I'm not as of yet.

Thank you so much for mentioning the placement of the follow widget. I cannot tell you how many blogs I've wanted to follow but didn't, simply because I could not find the follow widget. Why wouldn't everyone make it easy to find? Thanks so much, Elana!

The group of bloggers I first connected with, we all play a game of making up hilarious definitions for our verification words, which is one of the reasons I keep it, but please, yes, have it already there, don't make it reload. I've accidentally exited out and lost a comment because I didn't realize it was going to reload to ask me for a VW. And then it's far too annoying to go back in.

I just changed my settings to the popup window, though, because I think it does make it easier if you want to comment on something on the blog - you can more easily jump back.

I was instructed (thank goodness) to remove comment verification for new posts and leave it only on old ones. It did increase spam management a little, but makes it much easier for regulars.

Music is not my fav either--especially when our youngest cranked the laptop volume to the max and I unknowingly visit a site with music.

I did not think of the follower suggestion. My widget is 1/2 way down the page--I did not want new visitors to think that I was boasting or something, and I usually use the follower tool in the dashboard for me. I'll have to think about this one--good stuff.

Word verification doesn't annoy me because it takes only a second. Now I know it annoys others, though! I'm checking my settings now to make sure the word verif is in a pop-up window. Thanks for the tips!

I so agree about the music!!!!! I used to have a player on my blog...till one day I realized that every time I went to my blog, I hit the pause button! I deleted it after that!! And the word verification....yuck!!

i so agree about the music. i usually go through my dashboard and click all the links i want to read so they're all open at once. if one has playing music, it drives me nuts and i usually find it and close it without reading.:p

Thanks for the post! If you're looking for things to post about, I would love to know about blogging etiquette. As a fairly new blogger, some of the conventions of following, tagging people, and these "meme" things escape me. I'd appreciate your enlightenment.

Wow, Elana, I removed my comment moderation right before I came here! My comments are on a pop-up window with word verification, and a few weeks ago I turned my auto-play music off. So, now I just wait for my followers to pour in, right? ;DThanks for the excellent advice!

So with you on the auto-music though. I usually have multiple tabs open, and I hate being blind-sided by autoplay music while I'm looking at something else. I end up frantically clicking around, trying to find the source of it.

I agree with the tip on music. I don't listen to my own while I blog, I'm a quiet living kind of girl that way; I jump about a mile out of my seat each time someone's blog music starts up on me. I figured out the deal on moving my follower widget up a few weeks ago; it's a good tip.

I didn't know people were so annoyed by the instant music. The kids turn the sound off on the laptop, so I rarely hear it. I've never tried to put it on my blogs. I changed my comments to the pop-up but still have the word verif. I think the words can be funny, too, so they don't bother me, but, yes, we want this to be slick and efficient, so will consider taking it off. Too bad wordpress doesn't have an easier system for followers. I like blogger for that reason. Great post! Write on!

I agree with everything you said, and have one to add. I don't like blogs with 11,000 ads. I have a fast connection, but a slow computer, and if it takes a full minute to load the page, or it crashes my computer on a regular basis, I'm not going to follow that blog.

Yours works beautifully, FYI, so I read it on an almost daily basis. =)

and, the follower tab...hmmm..I'll see exactly where mine sits. good thought. I just am always sad when people don't have a follower tab AT ALL .. cuz I don't have enough brain power to actually remember their blog.

I turned off my comment verification too. I have yet to receive spam. And I can't tell you how annoying it is to me if blogs have auto-play music. I hate it on all websites. It really irks me. Another think that bothers me, dark backgrounds with light colored writing. I understand if you are going for a look but there is a reason why the best websites in the world have light colored backgrounds - they are easier on the eye!

Amen! I hate blogs with music. It's come on loud before and woken up my 2-year-old (and that's about the worst thing a person could do to me!). I'm considering un-following people who use it, it's so annoying to me.

I turned off comment verification a month or two ago and so far I haven't had any problems. There will probably be a time when I'll have to use it again, but I'll wait until then.

Thank you for mentioning the music - that one drives me nuts! When I open the bajillion blogs to read, I can get multiple songs playing - and then I don't get my music at all because I have to mute the whole shebang!

Good points. I don't care for music on a site either, not that it's not nicely intended...My computer has these slow times (when it is tired I suppose) and music tends to slow it down. Plus sometimes it pops on and startles me. Silly, I know.

Have been debating about the word verification on my blog; I may just ditch it. Things have been so busy around here haven't had time. Okay, rambling here, sorry.Have a good weekend,Karen

OMG!!!!! You're SO right about the issue with the captcha. I hate writing a whole comment, plugging in my identity (sometimes I'm *not* having a crisis - yeah!) only to wait for that stupid word to load, then for it to "verify identity" before it successfully submits. That something wonky seems to happen upon occasion during that process only makes me have a big ole SASS face >:(

Totally agree with you on the music! I don't mind when people have a playlist posted and sometimes I even scroll through the scrolls for a couple seconds just to see what's there. But I hate the ones that automatically start playing. It's just one more thing that I have to do before I can start to read the post I came to see in the first place.

2) My comment screen pops in a separate window and the word verification is there automatically.

3) I moderate because I don't do my blog until I get home from work or early in the mornng prior to work, plus I've been stalked and harassed elsewhere in the Cyber World for the better part of two years, so I don't want potentially nasty/racist/homophobic comments left on my blog for hours on end.

4) Followers widget is at the top of my blog and is the first thing you see when you get there.

Hi Elana. Thanks for this - I have just changed my comment settings as per instructions! I hope this makes it easier for folk - I didn't even think about it to be honest, but yes, makes perfect sense. See I said I was going to like it here! (Which probably only makes sense if you read my other comment first, come to think about it... :)

Someone's blog music= lame.Word verification= also lame. (I took mine off last year without a single hitch. I think bloggers much still have that on their own blogs out of habit/fear/misunderstanding.)

I just found your blog through Shannon Whitney's and wanted to say that I enjoyed reading your "Building a Better Blog" section. The tips were really helpful and your instructions were clear and easy to follow.

Here's a question regarding the follower widget. I just started my blog and made the (perhaps) mistake of using WordPress, which I came to realize after the fact does not allow the GFC widget. Is that a turnoff to readers? Should I migrate to Blogger when my domain waiting period expires?

Search This Blog

Buy My Books on Amazon

See everything I've written and buy my books!

My Books on Your iPad

What People Are Saying About POSSESSION

"Possession held me completely captivated from beginning to end. And what an end! I fell in love with the characters and had countless moments of 'Wow.'"--James Dashner, bestselling author of The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials

“Most [readers] will be drawn in by the love triangle, revelations about Vi and her family, and a dark twist ending that maintains the faintest glimmer of hope.” --Publisher's Weekly

"Who Should Read This: Anyone who wants a challenge: This plot is so twisty, I had to read the last chapter twice before I could believe what happened. There's also a very nice balance between badass action and romantic tension for readers who like a good mix of the two." --MTV.com

“Emotion pumps through every scene of this thriller. Given all the urgency and action, the novel’s ending may surprise readers as the heroic adventure turns into a tragic love story.” –School Library Journal

“If George Orwell's novel 1984 were to have a little stepsister, Johnson's POSSESSION would be her.... It would also be perfect for those who relish a hearty romance mixed in with science fiction....As readers follow the relationship triangle, they will gasp with anticipation wondering which boy she will ultimately choose.” --VOYA